In-depth with Florida’s roofing experts

By Dani Sheehan. 

From recycled materials to supply chain solutions, learn market insights and key takeaways from the FRSA trade show this year. 

The Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA) held its 102nd annual convention and trade show June 5-7, 2024, in Kissimmee, Florida, and once again saw a huge turnout! On the first day of the show, we went live from the trade show floor to meet with Florida roofing leaders and experts in our Coffee Conversations sponsored by Beacon Building Products. Heidi J. Ellsworth was joined by Tammy Hall from CFS Roofing, Johnny Walker from ICP Building Solutions Group, Randy Fletcher and Donnie Smith from Southern Roofing and Renovations and Heather Wheeler from E2 Roofing to discuss the show and what’s hot this year in Florida and across the country. 

When asked how the show was going so far, Tammy spoke for the group, sharing, “It's incredible. It’s been great to see everybody. I love the opportunity to network. The exhibitors have gone all out this year. You have everything from A to Z, literally, and a little bit in between. You have great deals on the floor. People are ready to sell. And I think the people here are ready to buy. It's been a great year in Florida, so I'm excited to be here.” 

Compared to last year, Heather noticed a lot of recycled materials. She explained, “Today on the floor with recycled materials that maybe look like shingle or look like metal but have a lot longer of an ability to keep them on the roof. With Florida, I'm sure everybody knows the insurance here dictates a lot of the lifespan of shingles. And so, there's a lot of people looking to, ‘How can we get around that 15-year mark?’ And I think that sustainable shingles is really a cool idea.” 

Donnie and Randy are also seeing sustainable materials gaining momentum, but for a slightly different reason. They are still noticing huge allocation issues for tile since the supply chain issues caused during the pandemic. Donnie shared, “I'm seeing a lot of people gearing towards the stone-coated steel, and I believe because of the resources they have or that they don't have whenever it comes to concrete tile, the wait times keep getting pushed back, stone-coated steel is readily available and it's comparable whenever it comes to the pricing, but it's a lot better product. So, I really do see that market growing in our system, especially in our tile markets.” 

Randy agreed, adding, “We are blessed being in Florida because Owens Corning has a plant in Jacksonville and then GAF is in Tampa. So, we haven't had many supply issues as long as we stick to certain colors.” 

“I think some people just don't realize how much of an ecosystem roofing material can be. The tiniest little defect can just have a domino effect,” Johnny noticed. “For example, that barge in China that did the canal, we couldn't get metals or anything. We couldn't get the framework for windows; we couldn't get any because everything just shut down. All because of one little barge.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar to continue the conversation with these industry experts about what’s trending in Florida this year and their predictions looking into 2025!